I kept glancing around the woods for Ryker but didn’t see him anywhere. Despite that, I was pretty sure the wolf was following us based on how Rynn’s gaze kept drifting deeper into the woods.

We walked in uneasy silence for almost an hour before the forest finally ended and revealed Lake Malov. Even before I saw it, I knew we were close because of how tense all the Velesians got. If they’d been in their animal forms, I had no doubt the hair along their backs would have been raised.

It was interesting to me that I didn’t feel anything. Vail didn’t seem to either, although I’d ask him later to confirm. Whatever was going on with the lake, only the Velesians could feel it. And the Furies according to Cali.

Even though I didn’t feel whatever Cali and the Velesians felt, I still found the lake disturbing. I was used to the turquoise waves that crashed against our beaches or the crystal clear waters of the lakes and rivers scattered throughout Lunaria.

Lake Malov was black. Impenetrable, inky darkness. Not even a ripple ran across the surface. It was like looking at glass.

I bumped my shoulder against Rynn’s. “No wonder you always want to come to the Moroi Realm. Our lakes are way more enticing for swimming.”

Cade looked over his shoulder. “You enjoy swimming?”

“Yes,” Rynn said after a long moment.

“Hope you like swimming in frigid water,” Bastian quipped. “Because the closest lake to our home is frozen for most of the year.”

Rynn’s brows furrowed, but before she could answer, Ryker appeared and rammed his shoulder into her as he walked past, wearing only a pair of loose-fitting pants. “Princess wouldn’t lower herself to swimming in our lake.”

Vail managed to grab Rynn just as she lunged for the lycanthrope. She twisted in his grasp and snarled in his face, but he just gave her a flat look in response. He’d spent plenty of time around Velesians and was used to their bullshit.

“Where should we start?” I asked, trying to break up the tension. “We could split up?”

“No.” Cade shook his head. “We might run into some patrols, and it’ll be easier to explain your presence if I’m with you. We’ll start at the southern tip. Go up the west side and work our way around.”

I nodded, and we continued on.

“Stop,” I said softly after we’d been walking for less than five minutes. I could hardly believe it, but for once, luck was on our side. The feeling was so subtle, I’d almost walked right by it. “There’s a lookaway spell here.”

“What?” Rynn perked up, any resentment she felt towards the Alphas instantly forgotten as her academic mindset kicked in. “Where?”

Vail stepped up to my side as we both studied the edge of the lake. Several boulders rose up from the water, and there were several smaller ones on the shore, but none of them were the source. I walked forward a few feet and stopped, bending down to brush away the small greyish pebbles that made up the shoreline. A shiny, obsidian black stone greeted me, exactly like the ones we’d found at the human settlement. The kind thathad been used centuries ago by the humans to turn us all into monsters.

“What does it say?” Rynn asked, crouching on the other side of Vail as we all studied the glyph that had been carved into the stone.

Based on how the ends of the symbol thinned out and twisted off sharply, it was an Unseelie glyph. My heart raced faster. My mother had been right. There was something here, and it had likely been hidden from everyone this whole time.

“Salvation.” I swallowed. “It means salvation.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Samara

We all watchedas I dripped some of my blood onto the glyph, the shallow cut on my arm instantly healing. The glyph carved into the black stone greedily drank in the offering until there was none left on the surface. The strange awareness I’d felt when we’d walked by grew stronger, like a humming in the back of my mind.

“I know this,” I muttered. “Why do I know this?”

“Sam?” Rynn glanced up from the glyph to give me a puzzled look.

“It calls to me,” I said softly. “I’ve never felt this way about any place in Lunaria.”

“What does it feel like?” Cade asked.

“Belonging.” I smiled as the feeling settled into my soul. This place was meant for me. I wondered if my mother would have felt the same way if she had found it. My smile slipped. Why did this place call to me . . . but drive everyone else away?

Before I could ponder that thought more, the dark, placid surface of the lake started to shiver, and we all took a step back as the water parted, revealing a set of stairs leading down.

“Holy shit,” Rynn breathed out and took a step closer tostudy the quietly churning water held back by magic. “I can’t believe a spell as complex as this still works after all this time.”